2008 Minneapolis Climate Change Grants

Based on the success of the 2007 Minneapolis Climate Change Grants ( 2007 Grants Information). In 2008, the city awarded, once again, Climate Change Grants to twenty-five recipients. The grants reaffirmed the idea residents in Minneapolis are willing to reduce energy use and embrace new environmentally-friendly lifestyle choices, especially when they see their neighbors are similarly invested. Local businesses and non residential property owners are motivated to saved money, save energy and be good stewards of the earth.

In many cases, the actions of others inspired by the Climate Change Grants serve to bring the community together, while helping to stop global warming. The Center for Energy and Environment was critical partner in providing technical assistance and outreach for the program, while Xcel Energy provided free compact florescent lights.

All grantees were required to promote the Minnesota Energy Challenge – an interactive website to calculate an individual’s carbon dioxide footprint and commit to making positive changes.

Climate Change Micro Grants:
Eighteen groups received grants up to $1,500 each to move residents to take immediate actions to reduce their clime change footprint and sign folks up for the Minnesota Energy Challenge. The application was relatively short and easy to fill out.

An estimate value of $178,515 was leveraged as a result of the City’s grants, equaling an overall 102 percent return on investment. The leverages were mostly from local groups, businesses, in-kind contributions, and donated staff and volunteer time.

Teams registered 1,954 participated in the Minnesota Energy Challenge, bringing the total of participating Minneapolis residents and businesses to over 4000.

New Energy Challenge Team members pledged to have over 2.7 millions pounds of carbon dioxide annually and for a total savings of $674,220 in energy use. According to the US EPA this is equivalent to removing 23- cars from the road or turning off the electricity in 166 houses for a year.

Increased partnerships between organizations resulted form the grants, especially organizations that would work in close proximity to each other.